Careful! You Never Know Who's On The Other Line.
Let’s talk customer service for a moment. There are some things in life that you never forget. I recall a phone conversation with a college-age girlfriend. I’m not making this up. She was already upset with me because I didn’t go party with her on the weekend before my final exams (I had three of them on the following Monday). On Sunday, I took a break from studying and gave her a call. She answered, but was talking to one of her girlfriends on the other line. She went to switch over to her, but for some reason, the call-waiting function faltered and the switch didn’t happen. My girlfriend proceeded to say some unflattering things about yours truly. I waited for her to finish and, after some silence, politely informed her “it’s still me.” Needless to say, that was the end of our relationship.
Why should we care about this? Part of running most businesses means prospecting for clients. I approach this task with a mixture of tactics that include, but not limited to, various channels of messaging and the outdated practice of picking up the phone and dialing. Businesses should make sure their employees who man the phones always treat callers (both customers and prospective/current business partners) with equal courtesy.
The other day, I called a business that could potentially use my services…one with poor Glassdoor.com ratings and multiple job openings. That’s known as a “two-for” in my world. The person who answered the phone treated me like I was about to offer overpriced root canals.
In executing this “tactic” of hers, little did she know that I, in past companies, have funneled some business to her company. Please don’t mistake this with the “don’t you know who I am?” complex. That’s not my point. She clearly didn’t know, nor did she care. She should’ve cared. Exceptional customer service starts with having an open mind about the person on the other end of the line. You never know where they’ve been, or equally important, where they’re going. While I can’t predict the future any better than anyone else, should I end up in a position to refer her company to a client, I’ll recall how she treated me on that day. What she accomplished was no more than rolling out the red carpet for her competitor.
Speaking of which, by comparison, the competitor has superior ratings on Glassdoor.com. 73% of raters recommend that company as an employer to friends compared to only 37% for the company I called. Workplace culture matters, perhaps, I digress.
Anyway, the message is simple. Treat every interaction as if your professional life depends on it, because it does. You’re the face of your business. And, bad news travels much further and faster than good. I’m not hung up (pun intended) on my former girlfriend’s sorry navigation of call-waiting functionality, but I’ll certainly refer future (insert industry here) business to this lady’s competitor.